I'm not a Robot
by Dokkaebi'sBride
Summary: Can an android and a cyborg help each other find something to live for? Stephanie had a perfect life. Until her life's trajectory changes on one fateful august night. Struggling to come to terms with her pains and overcome her newfound hardships, she finds her path crossing once again with the android she first met on the night of her fatal accident.
1. Prologue

**August 15 2038**

* * *

**_Rain._**

It hadn't been raining all day-or even all week now that she thought about it, but the heavens seemed to have opened the moment the DPD Report centre received the alert.

Another ominous sign.

Earlier on in the day her car had stopped working on her route to work, perhaps the first warning telling her she should have skipped work.

Her husband had insisted she stay in bed after another bout of terribly severe morning sickness, but being the skilful negotiator that she was, Stephanie had managed to talk him around, reassuring him she would be careful and only take low risk negotiations and reiterating to him that she would take maternity leave as soon as she hit the 6 month mark.

And if he was allowed to go deal with active shooters every other day and whatnot she could talk down a suicidal from a bridge and dissuade a kidnapper or two.

Which was why she didn't bother to think twice and accepted the call, when the case of a rogue android holding a little girl hostage was wired through to the crisis negotiation team from the report centre.

She wouldn't be quick enough if she went by car, so instead she scooped the keys from the bottom drawer of her desk with a red lacquered finger, zipped up her jacket and popped on her helmet.

Her motorcycle should get her there before the SWAT team would do anything too hasty.

Turning on her earpiece she patched herself through to the police already at the scene.

"Crisis negotiation is on it's way, status report?"

As soon a she spoke she heard a crackle in her ear as another line opened.

"Stephanie turn around now."

"Detective Allen." She addressed him with his official title, showing her seriousness and professionalism, knowing she'd have to negotiate with him before she could get talking to the android.

"Situations like this usually call for the crisis negotiation team don't they?"

"This isn't a situation with a human, its an android, you don't know how it'll react, if you'll be able to reason with it like a human."

She rolled her eyes despite him not being able to see.

"Honey, if anyone can do it it's me, you know they say I could sell the ocean a cup of water."

He was silent, knowing her stubbornness wouldn't shift.

"So whats the status?"

He sighed.

She smirked victoriously.

"SWAT are already in the building-"

Stephanie pulled her motorcycle to a stop in front of yellow police tape. Handing her helmet to the nearest officer she ducked under the tape, and headed to the elevator, flanked by two of the SWAT kids, both of them armed and ready.

"I'm on my way up, don't make any sudden actions until I get there-"

"Stephanie-"

"Honey-"

"It's too dangerous Stephanie, the android is out of control, you can't put yourself or our child in danger, I wont let you."

"We won't be in danger honey, not when I have you and you're boys and girls watching over me with all those fancy toys."

"Captain Allen."

The captain of the swat team turned to the other officer.

"What is it?"

"I just got word from cyberlife, they're sending over an android to talk down the rogue android."

He turned straight to his wife, she quirked an eyebrow and planted her hands on her hips.

"You see, you're not needed here, just go home okay?"

She frowned, arms folding over her chest, brows furrowing and face scrunching into that sulking thin-lipped pout that showed she was pissed.

"Not needed here? An android went rogue and kidnapped a little girl and you want to trust another to save her?"

Gunshots sounded from inside the apartment, followed by the little girl's scream.

Perfect timing to prove her point.

"The longer we wait the greater the risk gets. I'm not not going anywhere, if it makes you happy i'll put on a bullet proof vest but_ I am_ going to talk to that android."

Her husband clenched his jaw.

"If it was our child out there, you'd want the best of the best to save her right?

She touched an arm gently to his shoulder.

Comforting, reassuring.

"Take this."

He said, giving her a loaded pistol.

"And someone get her a vest."

When she was kitted up, carefully she entered the apartment.

Immediately she was hit with the smell of blood and gunfire.

"They're out on the roof."

"He has my baby please!"

Stephanie stepped through the scattered SWAT team to reach the sobbing woman, catching sight of the dead male on the ground.

"Her husband John Phillips, he was shot by the android."

"Caroline right?"

Stephanie held the woman's hands and gave them a squeeze.

"Don't worry I promise we'll work our hardest to save your daughter, I just need you to tell me a bit about what happened okay?"

"My daughter! He has my Emma out there and he has a gun!"

"I know I know," She nodded, sweeping the room for information before turning back to the girls mother.

"Do you have any idea what brought the sudden attack on?"

"No, I, I don't know, it just happened Daniel just shot him."

"Daniel, that's the name of the android?"

The woman nodded.

Stephanie smiled reassuringly.

"What can you tell me about Daniel?"

"I..i..i don't know, he was just an android he..."

The women paused for a moment, turning to the direction of the rooftop.

"Emma spent a lot of time with him, she doesn't have a lot of friends so he kept her company, played with her."

Another shot fired and the woman dropped to her knees in fright, Stephanie searched for her husband.

"Situation?"

"One of our guys thought he could get a shot, android shot him down."

Stephanie tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Standby," She said firmly, her tone icy and irritated.

"No more shooting until I give the word, tell the chopper not to linger too close either."

Returning her attention back to Caroline she knelt down to help the woman stand.

"We need to get you out of here okay?"

"No I wont leave her, i'm not leaving Emma."

"If you get hurt it will upset Emma even more, she's already lost her father Caroline, lets not make her an orphan."

At the harsh reality the woman seemed to cave, and allowed the SWAT to escort her away.

Stephanie did a quick circle of the room, dark eyes fixing on a blinking piece of software on the ground.

**_"Thank you for your purchase."_**

She quickly connected the dots in her head; the Phillips were going to replace Daniel.

With all the information she needed, Stephanie headed over to her husband who was watching the scene on the rooftop through a digital screen.

"I'm heading out, get your kids to cover me but tell them not to follow me out."

"I'm not letting you go out there alone."

"Cyberlife's android is on it's way up."

An officer called out, and Daniel sent a last pleading look to his wife.

"Let the android do the dirtywork."

She cupped his chin with a smile.

"I love you, but you're real fucking annoying sometimes."

"And you're so fucking stubborn."

Kissing his cheek she turned on her heels, tucking her pistol into the waistband of her jeans at the small of her back and making her way to the rooftop.

"I'm going to start negotiations."

She announced to the SWAT members, who carefully fell into position around her and nodded.

The first step forward onto the roof sent a bullet flying towards her.

She inhaled sharply, flinching backwards and raising her arms in defence.

She heard the SWAT loading their guns, and her husband shouting her name, and quickly made a move to settle them.

"Easy now, I'm okay, i'm okay, bulletproof vest remember."

She exhaled a breath and took a step forward.

Another shot was aimed near her, missing her shoulder and hitting the wall behind her.

An intentional miss-this was a good sign.

"Don't step any closer or i'll jump!"

The android yelled, Emma cried and squirmed and Stephanie came to an abrupt stop.

"Okay, i'll stay right here and keep still, but only if you keep still too alright, let's all keep nice and still."

She emphasised her words, mainly out of concern for the little girl who was moving far too much and far too close to the edge of the building.

She realised interestingly as the android followed her line of vision that he noticed it too, and tightened his grip on the young girl.

He didn't want to hurt the girl at all-she had her hook.

"Daniel."

She addressed the android.

"How do you know my name!"

She saw his eyes narrow, distrustful.

"My names Stephanie."

She spoke, calmly and as softly as she could but with enough volume to reach over the roaring of the chopper.

The wind and rain was starting to slowly drench her, turning her immaculately styled waves into inky seaweed like tendrils.

Her shoulders started to tremble with the cold.

"Now you know my name too."

"i know what you're trying to do!"

Daniel yelled, "You're trying to trick me so you can kill me."

Stephanie shook her head.

"I don't want to hurt you Daniel, I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Stephanie blinked back raindrops from her eyelashes.

"i want you to trust me, so i'm going to show you that I trust you."

Slowly she tossed her gun to the ground, kicking it behind her.

"Steph what are you doing?"

Captain Allen's protest crackled in her ear, she ignored it and started to unzip her bulletproof vest.

"Steph just get out of there, cyberlife's negotiator is here, it can takeover."

Stephanie shook her head.

"No, it's too dangerous to switch negotiators at this point, it can cause further complications."

"Mrs Allen is correct. And presently I see no need for myself to intervene."

"You're the one cyberlife sent?"

She mumbled into her earpiece, receiving an introduction.

"Yes, that's correct, my name is Connor, the android sent by cyberlife."

"Well Connor, thanks for taking my side."

"Come on Steph, it's too dangerous." Captain Allen complained, and she knew she wouldn't her the end of it.

"I'm perfectly fine Honey. This is my job remember, I do this sort of thing every day."

Stephanie removed her earpiece and tossed that aside too.

"I just want to talk Daniel."

"I don't want to talk."

"Okay, then just listen to me, how about I talk and you listen?"

The android was silent, reading the possible outcomes of the situation, after a short moment he nodded.

"Good."

She smiled.

"Do you mind if I come a little closer to talk a bit easier Daniel? I'll keep walking towards you and stop when you say the word okay?"

The android agreed.

Slowly she made her way forward, the wind generated by the chopper whipping her hair around her face, cutting into her skin icily.

"Stop, stop there."

She was still too far of a distance away. But it was a closer proximity than before atleast, meaning she didn't have to raise her voice as much.

Her teeth chattered, subconsciously she held a hand to her stomach.

"You're pregnant?"

The android tilted his head as he looked her up and down. Stephanie saw conflict cross his features.

"Yes I am."

She smiled, hand lingering on her stomach, "Almost 12 weeks."

When the android remained silent she continued.

"My husband thinks the little peanut is a girl but i'm certain he's a boy."

"I'd like a boy first, so that when I do have a little girl later on she'll have a big brother to look after her."

The android had a peculiar look of understanding on his features, which suddenly became saddened.

"I know you cared a lot for Alice, like you were her big brother right?"

Stephanie took a cautious step forward, the android made no complaint.

She took another step.

"And I know, you don't want to hurt Alice do you? Because if you did you would have done it already."

The android trembled, gaze turning to the young girl.

"Daniel."

Her high pitched voice and tear stained eyes seemed to strike a response from him.

"I..I didn't want to hurt anyone, I didn't mean too."

"I know."

Stephanie sympathized.

"You were angry and upset right? You didn't want to be replaced, that's why you fired the gun."

"They told me we'd be together forever but they lied to me, all humans ever do is lie."

The android was starting to get angry again.

The chopper inched closer, fans whirring as it adjusted it's positioning.

"That noise I can't stand that noise anymore!"

Stephanie inhaled deeply, the android was getting even more agitated.

"Tell that helicopter to get out of here."

Stephanie chewed on the inside of her mouth, nodded firmly.

"If that's what you want."

Flicking a wrist she ushered the helicopter away.

"There. I did something for you, now do something for me."

The android waited for her request.

"I want you to trust me, let Emma go and I promise you, everything will be okay."

The android shook his head, then stopped, looked behind himself and around the rooftop,then at Emma and then back to Stephanie.

"I want everyone to leave, and..and I want a car."

Stephanie closed her eyes briefly as she thought through her options. She really wanted a good outcome for everyone, but no matter how she thought about it, a complete happy ending was just impossible.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Daniel shift his gaze behind her and she turned to see Cyberlife's android was approaching.

What the hell was the thing doing?

"Daniel that's impossible."

The android spoke in place of Stephanie, knowing she was conflicted, and knowing the mission needed to be accomplished successfully.

"If you let Emma go now then I can promise you won't get hurt."

Daniel looked between Stephanie and the android.

"Okay."

He nodded, extending his arm and offering the gun to Stephanie.

"I trust you."

She smiled, assuring him he was making the right choice and slipped the weapon from his hold, tossing it over her shoulder.

The android slowly lowered Emma to the ground, and as soon as his fingers loosened their grip on the girl, every next action became a sudden blur.

The SWAT team fired and blue blood splattered against Stephanie's torso, she turned as the roof was suddenly flooded with SWAT officers who shot twice an then a third time and then a fourth, and as the injured android started to stumble, his eyes wide with fear and panic he reached out, grabbing for something,anything-Stephanie's jacket as he staggered backward, over the edge of the cliff.

Connor reached an arm out toward her, but he had hesitated too much and not acted quick enough. Her fingers were a ghostly touch against his as they slipped through his grasp.

She was falling.

The wind tore through the air as she did, billowing around her and sharply hitting the gaps of exposed flesh between her clothing, flooding her very being with a foreboding chill. She flailed in a desperate motion, deafened and unable to hear the android falling bellow her calling out an apology, or hear her name leaving her husbands lips in a yell.

She lets out a gasp and her breath is stolen by the winds around her, leaving her soundless and out of oxygen and her stomach flipped at the pull of gravity, beckoning her to join it.

Her baby.

She cries.

She could come to terms with it she was the only one falling but her child, her child didn't deserve this fate.

Her stomach lurches at the deadly pull of gravity, and her heart hammers out of fear.

Fear of what lies when her descent comes to a stop, and fear that she had made a terrible mistake.

Thunder rumbles all around her as she is consumed by a cold and ferocious wind, causing her hair to blindfold her eyes and the leather wrapped around her to billow out like wings.

Wings that cannot fly.

Like a flightless bird she falls, closing her eyes.

She tried to cry out once more but her sounds were mute amongst the loud wailing of the wind, and her eyes burned with tears that leaked down her face.

_This is going to hurt._ Are her final thoughts, as she tumbles towards concrete.

And it does.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourite's guys! My writing is not perfect so I really appreciate all the helpful critiques so I can further improve. I'll try my best to create an interesting story for you to read, so please do let me know your thoughts, what you're liking what you're not, any errors etc.**

**That's all enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

It was Stephanie's first day back at work.

No one at the DPD expected her to ever make a return, especially not after everything that had happened; the fall, the failure of her marriage, the dissolving of the crisis negotiation team and well, her current condition.

Heck she didn't even expect to be back.

But Stephanie had lost so much, too much, she wanted at least be able to hold onto something, and if that something was a space in the DPD then she'd take it and keep it.

Even if she was no longer head of a department and now just a detective.

As she arrived at the crime scene, her colleagues were uneasy.

They watched her with uncomfortable eyes as she ducked her head and hid her face with sunglasses- which were not really needed on such a dusky day; and slipped around reporters and under yellow tape.

"Detective Seo.."

Stephanie removed her sunglasses, hooking them into the front pocket of the plaid shirt she was sporting and turned to her colleague Tina, who averted her eyes instead choosing to focus on the paramedics who were covering the victim's body with a sheet.

Stephanie let out a sigh stuffing her hands in the pocket of her jacket.

Tina had been her best friend once upon a time, but maybe it had only been for face value because she had only visited Stephanie once whilst she was recovering from her surgeries.

"Why are you looking at me like i'm a photograph of someone who died Detective Chen?"

The woman stuttered a response and Stephanie turned on her heels, walking inside the building.

The elevator pinged as it reached the appropriate floor, and as it's doors opened she found herself subject to the stares of those already at the site; it was only the androids working on forensics that remained focused on their task.

This was going to be a difficult day.

She spotted Gavin in the apartments' kitchen, his arms folded and wearing the same moody frown that was constantly etched into his features.

"So you're saying no one heard or saw anything all night? The first time anyone saw her was this morning when you found the body?"

The building manager nodded.

Stephanie scrunched her face up pressing her hands to her ears. With so many people in such a small space it was hard for her audio interface to focus on what was important, currently the loudest thing was a stupid cyberlife advertisement for some kind of android operated driverless car.

"Can someone turn that TV off!"

She shouted, receiving an affirmative from another onsite detective, hearing him order an android to find the remote control.

Focusing on the site manager's statement she made her way to the kitchen.

"It was thundering and raining like crazy last night, no one in the building would have left their home, and it was so noisy no one would have heard."

Gavin blew air from his teeth, nodded, turned to see an approaching Stephanie and walked away.

"What the hell is she doing here?"

"You still get mad when you see me huh?"

She rolled her eyes following him, blocking his path before he could head into the bedroom.

"What have we got so far."

She quirked a brow, for a moment he was reluctant to divulge information, looking anywhere but at her.

"Suicide, female student 22... Jumped from the balcony."

Ah.

That was why they were even more uncomfortable. Given the circumstances of her accident they expected her to have some kind of trauma with high buildings and falling off them.

Stephanie's fingers curled into the hem of her shirtsleeves. She nodded.

"We know why yet?"

He seemed surprised at her seemingly unaffected reaction.

Her internals were starting to hum with unease but she ignored it.

"Probably the usual. Sad life, struggling with university or money or friends or something."

She narrowed her eyes at his insensitivity.

"Pity." he continued, not noticing, or pretending to notice, or noticing and wanting to irritate her further.

"I took a look at the body earlier, pretty girl. Why would such a pretty girl commit suicide?"

Stephanie stepped into the bedroom, glancing at the Cello sitting in the corner of the room.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, she was definitely pretty."

"No I mean the suicide you idiot, are you sure it was suicide?"

"Guess we'll find out once forensics finish up."

Stephanie pursed her lips, rounded on her heels and made her way over to the balcony as her optobionics got to work, recreating the scene. She was startled at first, blinking rapidly at what her brain and the software built into it was processing until she remembered what the engineer at Cyberlife had explained.

_Concentrate. Focus._

A pulsing orange hologram appeared in her vision, constructed from the victim's stats she had apparently analysed when she had glanced at the girls body.

The hologram wrapped it's fingers around the railing, hoisting itself up and toppling over as it tried to climb- the girl was 5ft5 and 46kg, extremely slim with hardly any muscle, so that in itself would have been a difficulty.

Stephanie's fingers tightened around the railing as she followed the hologram over the edge, her chest tightened as she watched it fall, then when it reached the ground hitting the flower bed it shattered, and Stephanie sucked in a sharp breath.

A warning blinked in her vision: **Spiking adrenaline levels. Recommended course of action is to take slow measured breaths.**

Closing her eyes she exhaled and inhaled, repeating the action until her adrenaline levels regulated and the tightness in her chest faded.

"Detective Seo! What are you doing?"

Stephanie opened her eyes, releasing the railing. She grimaced seeing that it had become misshapen due to the force of her metal fingers and reached for it again, bending the metal back into place.

"Can I see the dash cams from the cars near flower beds?"

"It'll take some time to find out what vehicle was parked there last night."

* * *

"It doesn't add up."

She announced after getting hold of the footage back at the DPD.

"What?"

Gavin pushed her chair out of the way of her terminal, ignoring the daggers she sent him as he watched over the footage, seeing nothing but a falling girl crumple into the flower bed below her.

"The landing." Stephanie explained, scooting her chair back over to her terminal and replaying the simulation she had put together earlier in her vision.

"The landing is different."

"What the hell you talking about Seo?"

Stephanie swallowed, shaking her left hand and flexing her fingers.

She was going to have to connect to the terminal.

She'd done it once before after being shown by an engineer at cyberlife and hated it because it was something inherently inhuman, connecting what was in her head to a computer.

"Watch."

She sighed and brought her fingertips to the screen, the skin on her fingers melting away into a shiny plastic white, displaying the simulation that had recorded in her mind.

"Fuck that's freaky."

Gavin grumbled, "You're like a goddamn android."

"I'm not a robot."

She hissed, removing her hand abruptly and leaving her chair.

"We have a meeting in 10 to discuss evidence right? Go get your shit together."

* * *

Immediate cause of death is cervical spine injury, however the luminol reaction revealed a lot of bloodstains. It's safe to assume that an injury to the back of her head was sustained prior to the fall.

"These are the photos taken first thing when we entered the crime scene."

The detective pressed a button changing the image projecting on the screen.

Normal enough.

"As you can see it's clean, nothing stands out but,"

He clicked the button again.

"Here's a look at the room after we used the luminol."

"Holy shit."

Gavin whistled, swinging back on his chair.

"I'd rather turn myself in than clean all that up, fuck."

"Bloodstains are a nightmare to get rid of."

The door opened and the group of detectives stopped to see Hank Anderson stroll through the door, slump down into a chair and reach for a doughnut from the desk.

"What about the weapon?" He asked around a bite, a stray sprinkle fell, landing in his lap.

"Forensics found a piece of metal embedded in her head."

"She was a cellist."

Stephanie called out, remembering the instrument the victim kept in her room. Automatically as she thought about it, the net links in her brain started searching, revealing a recent news article and social media images showing the 22 year old had won a competition not too long ago.

"She won an award recently, but there was no trophy in the apartment."

"The trophy was the weapon?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"So how do we find the weapon and who killed her?"

"Not who what."

Stephanie said, raising form her seat.

"It was an android."

"You sure about that?"

Gavin doubted her.

No surprise there since he was always trying to find some kind of flaw, something to criticise and hold against her-he'd been like that since their training days.

"We found trace amount of male DNA under the victims fingernails, neighbours and friends of hers said they heard her arguing a lot too."

Stephanie was confident with her assumptions.

"You said so yourself, bloodstains are a pain to clean up, an android would have no problem with it, and only an android would be able to to so, so immaculately which suggests.."

"Our killer's made of metal."

Hank finished and Stephanie shrugged.

"What if the boyfriend got an android to clean up for him?"

"Either way there's definitley android involvement, we just gotta find it so we can figure out the truth."

After the meeting the detective's had dispersed, some going to look into the boyfriend and anything relevant around him, some going to research a list of possible androids and others floating to the canteen, not yet having had the chance to eat because of the early hours discovery of the body.

A notice flickered across Stephanie's vision courtesy of her optobionics, alerting her to the fact that her blood sugar and energy levels were dropping.

She had to blink a few times to get it to disappear, heading to the canteen for food so that the message wouldn't return.

Tina and Gavin were currently at the Tea and coffee station, fixing up drinks for everyone.

"Steph you want a coffee?" Tina asked habitually, almost as if she had forgotten her distance from the morning. Then as Stephanie approached she seemed to remember, sharing a look with Gavin before fixing her gaze on the nespresso machine.

"I mean...umm...do you..can you drink coffee now?"

"Yeah I wondered that too," Gavin butted in, taking a sip from his own mug before continuing.

"Can you eat and drink like us humans or do you not need to like those robots?"

Stephanie pretended to be unnaffected, brushing off the fact they were comparing her to an androids likeness. They weren't intentionally trying to upset her, they were just curious that was all.

Well, she hoped that was it.

When Gavin set down his coffee mug to pick up his tray of food she grabbed it, bringing the cup to her lips.

"Thanks for the coffee."

* * *

Stephanie had been called into the Captains office.

"Captain Fowler."

She nodded, slipping into the chair opposite him and crossing her legs.

He looked her over as she sat tapping a foot.

She looked fine, normal, human- but he'd heard what had happened to her, heard what cyberlife had done-replacing all her broken bones and bits with plastic and metal.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

She pursed her lips.

"A little tired, you know this case had a lot of us up early."

She knew that wasn't what he was really asking but didn't care to answer correctly.

"I know this is your first day back, and it can be a little difficult adjusting to a new team and department, especially after so much time away-"

"I'm managing perfectly."

She carded her finger through her hair, planting both her feet on the ground and sitting up straight.

"But it's not me you're really talking about."

Stephanie let out a humourless laugh shaking her head.

"It's them isn't it?"

Captain Fowler was silent.

But the silence was clear enough.

"That's ridiculous."

"Stephanie..."

He paused, swallowed, struggled to put his words together in a polite enough way.

"It will just take some time for the others to get used-"

"A footballer breaks a leg a few too many times and needs pins and a metal rod put in, doesn't change who he is, or what he is does it?"

"I may have needed a bit of extra work to get put back together but the same still goes for me."

Folding her arms around her torso she frowned.

The captain could tell she was offended, but knew the type of person Stephanie was meant an apology would be an even worse offence.

"You're right."

He agrees.

"Was there anything else you needed?"

She asks, as the Captain flips through some files.

"With the rise in android related crimes, Cyberlife have brought it upon themselves to send us a prototype to assist investigations."

Stephanie's neutral expression shifted and she scowled unhappily.

"And you're telling me why? You think i'll make it feel right at home because we're both made of metal?"

"Stephanie."

She sat quietly like a scolded child.

"i'm telling you because I want to know if you're okay working on the deviant android cases, i'm putting together a small team, and I don't want you to do anything you're uncomfortable with."

She chewed on the inside of her lip.

Basically he didn't want her making any trouble when the android popped up.

"Yeah whatever, send me the files to my desk, I've got things to do, crime scenes to visit, and an android to find."

Hopping up from her chair she left the office with a salute of her fingers.


End file.
